> The one that really bothers me is #88, 'box shot 3d'. If you don't ship boxed software, you shouldn't have a picture of boxed software on your site.
You should A/B test it, shouldn't you? At least a number of years back windows users were more comfortable buying an online product if it had a box shot. Even if they knew there was no box version. It's a question of being comforted by the familiar..
I have long thought that, like the Hacker Free logos, favoring box shots is a symptom of a vague distrust of the Internet and all the scammy thieves who are waiting to take your money even though no software exists. A box shot (or screenshots) proves that the software actually exists.
Based on the alacrity with which I'm called a scammy thief if something goes wrong anywhere near the payment process, I'm going to guess that this really does weight on my customers' minds.
"Box shots mean it is real!" is not less rational than any of a thousand things I've heard about software over the years. (Some of them from techies.)
Except for sophisticated users who think that showing a box shot actually makes it seem MORE scammy. The gentlebox doth protesteth too much, as it were.
You should A/B test it, shouldn't you? At least a number of years back windows users were more comfortable buying an online product if it had a box shot. Even if they knew there was no box version. It's a question of being comforted by the familiar..